US20140123517A1

US20140123517A1 - Shoe structure

Info

Publication number: US20140123517A1
Application number: US13/671,926
Authority: US
Inventors: Chih-Hung Chen
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-11-08
Filing date: 2012-11-08
Publication date: 2014-05-08

Abstract

A shoe structure includes a shoe body and a wearing element installed onto the shoe body. The shoe body includes a first folding slot, a second folding slot, a third folding slot and a fourth folding slot. The first and second folding slots are extended from the center of a first side towards a second side of the shoe body with an included angle defined between the first and second folding slots. The third and fourth folding slots are extended from the second side towards the first side, and the third and first folding slots form a first folding line, and the fourth and second folding slots form a second folding line. The first and second folding lines divide the shoe body into a front stepping portion, a middle portion and a heel portion which can be folded along the first and second folding lines for a convenient storage.

Description

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present invention relates to a shoe structure, in particular to the shoe structure that allows users to fold and store shoes conveniently and wear the shoes comfortably.

BACKGROUND

Among various different types of conventional shoes, we usually wear some kind of shoes including leather shoes, tennis shoes and high heels when we go out from home, and also need to carry slippers and change the shoes with the slippers in occasions such as the events held at beaches, swimming pools or spas, so as to prevent the shoes from being stained or getting wet.
However, the conventional slippers not only occupy space, but also have the disadvantage of an uneasy carry. In other words, it is very inconvenient for users to carry the slippers. Thus, it is a main subject of the present invention to develop a shoe structure that allows users to fold and store shoes conveniently and wear the shoes comfortably.

SUMMARY

It is a primary objective of the present invention to provide an improved shoe structure that allows users to fold and store shoes conveniently.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an improved shoe structure that provides users a comfortable wear of the shoes.
To achieve the aforementioned and other objectives, the present invention provides an improved shoe structure, comprising: a shoe body with a first side and a second side; and a wearing element installed at a top surface of the shoe body.
The shoe body includes a first folding slot, a second folding slot, a third folding slot and a fourth folding slot, wherein the first folding slot is formed at a top surface of the shoe body and extended from the center of the first side towards the second side; the second folding slot is formed at the top surface of the shoe body and extended from the center of the first side towards the second side, and an included angle is defined between the first folding slot and the second folding slot; the third folding slot is formed at the top surface of the shoe body and extended from the second side towards the first side and the third folding slot and the first folding slot form a first folding line; and the fourth folding slot is formed at the top surface of the shoe body and extended from the second side towards the first side, and the fourth folding slot and the second folding slot form a second folding line.
Wherein, the first folding line and the second folding line divide the shoe body sequentially from the front to the rear into a front stepping portion, a middle portion and a heel portion, and the front stepping portion and the middle portion can be folded along the first folding line, and the middle portion and the heel portion can be folded along the second folding line.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the shoe body further comprises: a fifth folding slot, formed at a bottom surface of the shoe body and disposed at a position corresponding to the first folding slot; a sixth folding slot, formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body and disposed at a position corresponding to the second folding slot; a seventh folding slot, formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body and disposed at a position corresponding to the third folding slot; and an eighth folding slot, formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body and disposed at a position corresponding to the fourth folding slot.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the included angle falls within a range from 65° to 75°, and preferably 70°.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first folding slot or the third folding slot has a length from 20% to 35% of the length of the first folding line, and the second folding slot or the fourth folding slot has a length from 20% to 35% of the length of the second folding line.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first folding line and the second folding line have equal lengths.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the front stepping portion has a thickness from 5 mm to 10 mm, and preferably 7 mm.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the heel portion has a thickness from 8 mm to 13 mm, and preferably 11 mm.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the first folding slot, the second folding slot, the third folding slot or the fourth folding slot has a depth from 2 mm to 5 mm, and preferably 2 mm.
In summation of the description above, the improved shoe structure of the present invention provides a design of the first folding line and the second folding line for users to fold and store shoes conveniently and wear the shoes comfortably.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an improved shoe structure of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a shoe body of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a shoe body of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic views of a folded state of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a shoe body of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing the layout of a first folding slot and a second folding slot of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a top view of a shoe body of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention shoe body;

FIG. 9 is a bottom view of a shoe body of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention shoe body; and

FIGS. 10 and 11 are schematic views of a folded state of a shoe structure of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The objects, characteristics and effects of the present invention will become apparent with the detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the illustration of related drawings as follows.
With reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 for an improved shoe structure of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, only one of the shoes of the shoe structure is shown in the figures for the purpose of illustrating the present invention, and the shoe structure 1 comprises a shoe body 100 and a wearing element 200, wherein the wearing element 200 is installed at the top surface of the shoe body 100′.
In FIGS. 2 and 3, a first side 101 and a second side 102 are defined on both left and right sides of the shoe body 100 respectively, and the shoe body 100 comprises a first folding slot 110, a second folding slot 120, a third folding slot 130 and a fourth folding slot 140.
The first folding slot 110 is formed at a top surface of the shoe body 100 and extended from the center of the first side 101 towards the second side 102; and the second folding slot 120 is formed at the top surface of the shoe body 100 and extended from the center of the first side towards the second side 102, and an included angle θ is defined between the first folding slot 110 and the second folding slot 120, wherein the included angle θ falls within a range from 65° to 75°, and preferably 70°. Although it is not shown in the figure, a distance can be maintained between the first folding slot 110 and the second folding slot 120.
The third folding slot 130 is formed at the top surface of the shoe body 100 and extended from the second side 102 towards the first side 101, and the third folding slot 130 and the first folding slot 110 form a first folding line 103; and the fourth folding slot is formed at the top surface of the shoe body and extended from the second side 102 towards the first side 101, and the fourth folding slot 140 and the second folding slot 120 form a second folding line 104; wherein the first folding line 103 and the second folding line 104 divide the shoe body 100 sequentially from the front to the rear into a front stepping portion 105, a middle portion 106 and a heel portion 107.
In FIG. 3, the first folding slot 110 has a length L1, the second folding slot 120 has a length L2, the third folding slot 130 has a length L3, the fourth folding slot 140 has a length L4, the first folding line 103 has a length S1, and the second folding line 104 has a length S2, wherein the length L1, the length L2, the length L3 and the length L4 are substantially the same, and the length S1 and the length S2 are substantially the same. In addition, the length L1, the length L2, the length L3 or the length L4 is approximately equal to 20% to 35% of the length S1 or the length S2. For example, if the length S1 is equal to 10 cm, the length S2 is substantially equal to 10 cm, and the length L1, the length L2, the length L3 or the length L4 is approximately from 2 cm to 3.5 cm.
In FIGS. 4 and 5, users can fold the front stepping portion 105 and the middle portion 106 of the shoe structure 1 along the first folding line 103, and then fold the middle portion 106 and the heel portion 107 along the second folding line 104 in order to store the shoe structure 1, wherein the front stepping portion 105, the middle portion 106 and the heel portion 107 can be folded in any direction, but not limited to the directions as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, or they can be folded in opposite directions with one another.
In FIG. 6, the front stepping portion 105 has a thickness D1 from 5 mm to 10 mm, and preferably 7 mm; the heel portion 107 has a thickness D2 from 8 mm to 13 mm, and preferably 11 mm; when these portions are not folded, the first folding slot 110, the second folding slot 120, the third folding slot 130 or the fourth folding slot 140 has a depth D3 from 2 mm to 5 mm, and preferably 2 mm to provide users a comfortable wear of the shoes. With the aforementioned design, the shoe structure 1 achieves a specific strength and prevents the folding slots from being deformed. For example, since the second folding slot 120 and the fourth folding slot 140 have not been coupled to each other, therefore the strength of the shoe structure 1 is not damaged, and the heel portion 107 will not give an uncomfortable wear of the shoes, and users can wear the shoe structure 1 comfortably.
With reference to FIGS. 2 and 7, the first folding slot 110 and the second folding slot 120 are disposed on an inner side of the shoe body 100 (as shown in FIG. 2) and the first folding slot 110 and the second folding slot 120 are disposed on an outer side of the shoe body 100 (as shown in FIG. 7). Regardless of which side of the shoe body 100 the first folding slot 110 and the second folding slot 120 are disposed, the shoe body 100 can be folded along the first folding line 103 and the second folding line 104.
With reference to FIGS. 8 to 11 for a shoe structure 2 of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 8 and 9 are the top and bottom views of a shoe body 100′ of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the shoe structure 2 of this preferred embodiment has a design substantially the same as that of the shoe structure 1 of the first preferred embodiment, and the difference resides on that the shoe body 100′ of this preferred embodiment further comprises a fifth folding slot 150, a sixth folding slot 160, a seventh folding slot 170 and an eighth folding slot 180.
In FIG. 9, the fifth folding slot 150 is formed at a bottom surface of the shoe body 100′ and disposed at a position corresponding to the first folding slot 110; the sixth folding slot 160 is formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body 100′ and disposed at a position corresponding to the second folding slot 120; the seventh folding slot 170 is formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body 100′ and disposed at a position corresponding to the third folding slot 130; and the eighth folding slot 180 is formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body 100′ and disposed at a position corresponding to the fourth folding slot 140. With the aforementioned design, users can fold the shoe structure 2 easily for a convenient storage.
With reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, the users can fold the front stepping portion 105 and the middle portion 106 of the shoe structure 1 along the first folding line 103, and then fold the middle portion 106 and the heel portion 107 along the second folding line 104 in order to store the shoe structure 2, wherein the front stepping portion 105, the middle portion 106 and the heel portion 107 can be folded in a direction not limited to those as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, but they can be folded in opposite directions with one another.
In summation of the description above, the improved shoe structure of the present invention adopts the design with the first folding line and the second folding line, so that users can fold and store the shoe structure for a convenient carry. In addition, the thickness of the shoe structure, the length of each folding slot and each folding line, the depth of each folding slot can be controlled to provide users a comfortable wear of the shoes.
While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe structure, comprising:

a shoe body, with a first side and a second side, further comprising:

a first folding slot, formed at a top surface of the shoe body, and extended from the center of the first side towards the second side;

a second folding slot, formed at the top surface of the shoe body, and extended from the center of the first side towards the second side, and an included angle being defined between the first folding slot and the second folding slot;

a third folding slot, formed at the top surface of the shoe body, and extended from the second side towards the first side, and the third folding slot and the first folding slot forming a first folding line; and

a fourth folding slot, formed at the top surface of the shoe body, and extended from the second side towards the first side, and the fourth folding slot and the second folding slot forming a second folding line; and

a wearing element, installed at the top surface of the shoe body;

wherein the first folding line and the second folding line divide the shoe body sequentially from the front to the rear into a front stepping portion, a middle portion and a heel portion, and the front stepping portion and the middle portion are folded along the first folding line, and the middle portion and the heel portion are folded along the second folding line.

2. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the shoe body further comprises:

a fifth folding slot, formed at a bottom surface of the shoe body, and disposed at a position corresponding to the first folding slot;

a sixth folding slot, formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body, and disposed at a position corresponding to the second folding slot;

a seventh folding slot, formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body, and disposed at a position corresponding to the third folding slot; and

an eighth folding slot, formed at the bottom surface of the shoe body, and disposed at a position corresponding to the fourth folding slot.

3. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the included angle falls within a range from 65° to 75°.

4. The shoe structure of claim 3, wherein the included angle is equal to 70°.

5. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the first folding slot or the third folding slot has a length falling within a range from 20% to 35% of the length of the first folding line.

6. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the second folding slot or the fourth folding slot has a length falling within a range from 20% to 35% of the length of the second folding line.

7. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the first folding line and the second folding line have equal lengths.

8. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the front stepping portion has a thickness falling within a range from 5 mm to 10 mm.

9. The shoe structure of claim 8, wherein the front stepping portion has a thickness of 7 mm.

10. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the heel portion has a thickness falling within a range from 8 mm to 13 mm.

11. The shoe structure of claim 10 wherein the heel portion has a thickness of 11 mm.

12. The shoe structure of claim 1, wherein the first folding slot, the second folding slot, the third folding slot or the fourth folding slot has a depth falling within a range from 2 mm to 5 mm.

13. The shoe structure of claim 12 wherein the first folding slot, the second folding slot, the third folding slot or the fourth folding slot has a depth of 2 mm.